COUPONS | PROMOTIONS

I'm a college-age gal without a whole heck of a lot of $$ to my name, and I find that groceries are often the biggest chunk of my budget - more than gas, electric, cable, phone - and that goes unnoticed by a lot of people...we logically assume groceries to be essential to life, and thus go on paying whatever it costs. Time to stop the insanity!

Here's my 4 simple rules for grocery shopping without murdering my wallet:

What to do if your local paper isn't very good or doesn't have coupons: find yourself a friend at a gas station and start showing up late in the evening on Sunday - newspaper vendors have to cut off the heading of the Newspaper to return for credit, but usually THROW OUT the rest - including the COUPONS!! Bribe them with cookies for the extra copies - works for me!
Here's another tip:

For instance, my Shoprite keychain is linked to a UPromise.com account; that gives me between 1-5% of the price of certain items, like specific brands of cola or toilet paper, and deposits it into a savings account towards my future child's (or neice, nephew, neighbor's kid, grandkid - you get the idea) college education.

My card is ALSO linked to a Skymiles Frequent Flyer program - for every two dollars I spend on my groceries, regardless of brand, I get a frequent flyer mile!

My card ALSO tracks my purchases about four times a year towards either something like a turkey, ham, or 10% certificate for every $300 I spend in a certain period..usually about two weeks to a month. I got my thanksgiving turkey and an easter ham for FREE!

Before you physically go to the store, do these three things:

While You're At The Store...

Always, always, always be polite. So you have 30 friskies coupons, that's great for you, but remember there's likely an overworked and underpaid cashier that's going to have to swipe can, coupon, and keys for every single one of those. Don't get greedy, use a few coupons (I do no more than 5 identical coupons per visit - most stores have a limit to how many identical coupons you can use in a visit, so do your homework) each time, spacing things out if at all possible. Shop during non-busy hours, choose a line that has a friendly-looking cashier and no line behind you to inconvenience, and definitely don't abuse the 10 items or less lane!

The self-checkout lanes that are popping up in larger store chains can also be a useful way to use a lot of coupons without ticking anyone off. Most coupon limits are per "order", enabling the industrious shopper to break up their purchases into several "orders" on their own back-to-back, taking as much time as they need without worrying about a short-tempered cashier.

Stores are taking to new tactics to try and seem affordable while still stacking the odds in their favor, but you can outsmart them! Some chains will print out a checkout coupon with your receipt if you buy x number of products from x company, enabling you to take x dollars off your next shopping trip. Put the items you know will trigger this coupon in the front of your cart, separating them for checkout. Go to a self checkout lane, scan just those items through, and collect the coupon with your receipt. From there, run the rest of your items through in a second order and use the coupon! That way it doesn't have a chance to get lost, damaged, forgotten, or expired, and your money stays where it belongs...in your wallet! The same goes with any "try this free" coupons that may print with your receipt - leave your cart in a safe place (or take it back in the store if they allow you), grab the item, and come back to redeem the coupon right away.